


Nightime truths

by purplefox



Category: Persona 3, Persona Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M, Oneshot, Sleeping Together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-21
Updated: 2018-12-21
Packaged: 2019-09-23 22:38:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17089064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/purplefox/pseuds/purplefox
Summary: Shinjiro had been fighting this thing for a long time. Protecting Akihiko is hard, all he wants is for his idiot to smile more.





	Nightime truths

Sometimes you grew up right next to the love of your life for your whole life. Sometimes you grew up to realize that the person nearest and dearest to your heart was really a complete idiot that just happens to look cool. Life could be weird like that sometimes.

When it came to getting the right spin of the dice, Shinjiro was still trying to figure out where the good luck started and his horrible fate ended. Still when it came to this thing he had with Aki- well the muscle idiot had his childish heart and his ridiculous good looks.

He was really an idiot. Not much was going for him with that pure heart of his. And yet Shinjiro was unable to truly leave him alone. He had tried running, he had tried pushing and all that ended up as was a mess for them and other uninvolved people. It had ended with his heart clenched tight and loneliness throughout his bones.

He was tired of pushing, he was tired of running mostly because he had been never the type to push or run in the first place. Whatever came he was going to face it head on like everything else. That was the only thing that he could do.

It would make Aki happy too. He had not wasting anytime in pushing past the last bit of Shinji’s quick defences. He had broken through all of them. All the arguments, all the blustering. He had been cute and sad at the same time.

It was only supposed to be one kiss. That was what he had promised himself. One kiss. One touch. Then that had turned to secret hugs that got harder and harder to pull away from. Then talking, Aki wanted communication or so he said.

But there was no need for it to be so late at night in Aki’s room on his bed. That was just tempting a starving man. Unnecessarily cruel. What was the sense in not saying anything when he finally got up to go to his own room with Aki watching him leave in such a way?

It was blatant temptation, telling him all he had to do was stay. All he had to do was reach out, all he had to do was make the first move and Aki would be his. More than he was already.

The kisses outside the room were safe, so were the hugs. The room was something different and they both knew that. That was why Shinji had known when he went to kiss Aki that one quiet night that he would not be going back to his room right away.

The kiss had been gentle, Aki had pulled him on top of him and they had slowly undressed each other. Gently touched each other’s bodies and gently kissed. Everything had been slow and almost sweet. Aki had fallen asleep in his arms with tears in his eyes.

Shinjiro had stayed there with Aki in his arms for a few precious hours before he tucked his special idiot back into bed and made his way to his own room. The time he spent in his own bed he recalled the time in Aki’s. He had fallen asleep with his arms feeling empty.

Still they could not stay the entire night in each other’s room. Not that Aki came to his. Shinji always went to Aki’s. Maybe if he waited long enough Aki would come to him but Shinji always moved first he always went to Aki’s room and he was always allowed inside.

He had been coming to this room for so many nights. Not every night they touched each other. Sometimes he held Aki until he felt his heart and body calm. This was a thing that was between them.

He was not going to run from this thing between them.

Not anymore anyway. He would admit that guilt had wrapped him up fairly tightly in the beginning. It had made looking at his own friend hard because it would hold him tight in the gut. The way he felt knowing the way he thought about Aki had been agonizing.

And still he had been unable to turn his back fully. He had been unable to turn away. He was still unable to leave Aki alone. He wanted to keep this thing between them special in this room in these dark hours but it was only a matter of time.

Aki clung tighter as the days wore on. He left marks. His hands were tighter, it was harder to sate him, it took longer for Aki to be tired enough to think about sleeping. He would kiss longer and fiercer his thoughts obviously on the days they endured and the things that haunted them.

The others were not idiots, a little unobservant but who could blame them? They all had things on their minds they all had things to worry about so how could they see what Shinjiro and Akihito were doing?

There was a reason they were hiding after all, but all this tension. All this barely hidden fear. All this desperation was having an effect on all of them. They would only go so far. They could only go so far before they broke. They were on the edge and something would have to give. Shinjiro did not want it to be Aki. He did not want him to have to suffer and hurt anymore.

He so badly wanted only good things to happen to him. He did not want him to hurt or suffer anymore. He would disappear forever if only he had the reassurance that Aki would make it through okay. But he knew better now, they were better together.

There was something only he would be able to do. No one else would be able to draw out the Akihito that he knew. No one knew how to coax out the spoiled idiot. The vulnerable trickster. Only him.

Or maybe not but Shinjiro wanted to keep those things to himself. He wanted to kiss the clumsy muscle obsessed idiot. He wanted to feed him good things, he wanted to wipe away the mess he made. He wanted to keep kissing and touching him. He wanted to keep the way Aki looked at him forever.

He wanted the trust and safety that appeared in Aki’s eyes for him to remain. He wanted to continue to be Aki’s haven. He wanted to give him peace.

That did not change the reality of what they were and what they did. They could ignore it. The school was fairly isolated but they did watch television, they did leave the school. They did wander around and adults were everywhere.

People said things, people did things and while Akihito maybe had his head in the clouds or blocked it out somehow Shinji saw the reality that stretched before them. Maybe those around them would not care. Considering the things they had to deal with that would the least of their worries.

He doubted it would faze most of them. Especially with the way things were. But the ones beyond them, the suits, the companies and teams. The normal people around them. They would look at them as if they were weird. They would look at Aki and scorn him. Shinjiro was accustomed to being misunderstood but people loved Aki and he did not want to see the light taken away from his eyes because of how cruel the world could be.

But he could not exactly leave either.

He could not and he would not. His heart was tied up so tightly with Aki that leaving was not an option. He needed to see him, he needed to be with him. He was constantly thinking about him. Worrying about him.

In a fight he felt safest with Akihito at his back and he knew Aki felt the same. Even though they did not talk as much as they should. They were talking, more than before. Better than before.

They talked but there was always this feeling for them that they should not waste a moment, an opportunity to touch each other. Kiss and hold each other. Maybe it was what was at stake, maybe it was the tension of the entire team. Or maybe they were sensing that something was coming.

That was why it was so hard to leave Aki’s bed when the time came. He really did not want to. He did not want to pull away from the warm body that he held. He wanted to hold him until the sun came up. he never wanted to leave the bed.

Maybe. Perhaps when all of this was over, they would be able to go away somewhere the two of them together. A hot spring or something just the two of them. Rent a room in an inn and spend the entire time together or soaking. Aki would love that. Shinjiro was positive about that.

He sighed softly before he hugged Aki tighter to himself. It was already a tight fit as it was. Their rooms did not exactly have sprawling beds. Necessity was necessity.

He pressed a kiss to the top of Aki’s head. Allowed himself a moment to savour the feeling of him sleeping peacefully on his head before he gave into responsibility. He had stayed far longer than he should have. He had things to do.

Akihiko would be up in a bit as it was and Shinji wanted to have something waiting for him. He wanted to continue to support everyone anyway that he could.

His hands moved to the covers he had tugged over Akihiko and himself and gently flipped it off them. Then came the easing Aki over part. He was sleeping so strongly, his fingers weak in the grip on Shinji. His heart clenched when he slid out the bed and covered Akihiko back up. He wanted to climb back into the bed.

He wanted to sleep with Aki for a week. He looked so at peace. Shinji wanted to hold him again.

But what he did was pull his clothes back on, put some order to the rest of Aki’s ones before he slipped quietly out of Aki’s room. He pulled it closed behind him before he sighed. He began to button up his shirt when he froze his gaze on the other side of the hallway.

God knows where the quiet Minato had come from. His eyes went from Shinji to the door he had just pulled closed behind him to Shinji again. Shinji felt cold all over.

Before he could urge his body to move or his mouth to form words, he watched Minato visibly take a deep breath and slowly exhale. The boy then gave him a firm nod and clearly planned to continue on his way.

It was-

Fuck. It really was like the kid to do something like that. Just seeing Minato do that warmed up his body that had gone cold and Shinji hurried with his buttons and stepped forward. He wrapped one arm around Minato and began to drag the kid to the staircase.

“Morning to you too.” His tone was a little dry, a little hoarse but it could not be helped. “I could use some help in the kitchen.” He felt Minato staring at him but he was focused more on the boy’s body next to his. No tensing, no twitching or flinching. He was the way he always was and that made Shinjiro feel great.

X

“So we- Aki and I.” Shinji wanted to hide his face in his apron. “It’s what you probably think. We’re together. Akihiko and I. But we haven’t told anyone. Not a single one.” His focus was on the stove but he could feel Minato’s stare. “That must have surprised you just now.”

“Not really, I already thought you were good friends.” Minato’s voice was soft as he grated the things Shinji wanted done. “It was a bit of a shock. About you I think. Akihiko-senpai has this air about him sometimes but you don’t open up to many people.”

“Aki’s different.” Shinji smiled as he turned the last burner on the stove’s heat to low. “He’s always been. Now its just a little different. I’ve always cared about him. It’s just a different kind of care. He’s always been special. He’ll always be special.”

“You’re important to him. I knew that from the start.” Minato was almost contemplative the sound of his work slowly filling up the gaps. “His focus is always on you so now that I know about this it isn’t as much a surprise as it could be.”

“Yeah we don’t exactly flaunt it.” Shinji spooned chopped vegetables into the saucepan with a sigh. “This isn’t the time for that.”

“And you really value him. It shows in the things you do and the way you fight. Both of you are good fighters but the way you are with each other is way different to how you could ever be with the others. Especially me. I might take the lead from time to time but the way you have each other’s back is different to how you’ll back me up.”

That sounded bad. Shinji winced as he watched the pot. “Sorry.” He murmured.

“Don’t be, that’s just how it is. Love makes others act differently. Actually I don’t mind. You’re each other’s special person.” Shinji watched out the corner of his eye the way Minato dedicated himself to his job. “I’m a little envious, maybe a little lonely but considering how dark things can get I don’t mind someone finding some light in here.”

“That how you see it?” Shinjiro chuckled as he heard soft padding of paws approaching them.

“We all need a reason to keep going and to fight back the fear. Your reason is not just abstract it’s right there backing you up. it’s sort of- cool maybe?” Minato flashed him a happy smile. “But sticking to your rooms all the time has to be painful. I know some good spots no one ever knows.”

“You saying to take him on a date?” Shinjiro laughed before he moved for the special dog food he had ready.

“Don’t you want to?” Minato asked softly before the sound of feet on the stairs caused him to go silent. Shinji watched the way Aki came down the stairs and nodded in their direction his jogging clothes already on.

“I wanna do more than that. I wanna give him everything.” He said softly as he watched Aki go through the door his thin shirt clinging to his upper body. “But with an idiot like that you have to be careful.”

“Yeah.” Minato sounded sad. “That’s what sucks about this world. Considering the things we do you would think this would be the few passes we would get but it won’t work that way. We aren’t normal, we won’t live normal lives. I doubt we will die normal deaths but they want normal from us.”

“I just want happy.” Shinji said softly as he started on Aki’s after jogging breakfast. “I want that idiot happy and smiling in the sun. it isn’t easy but after everything we’ve been through, he deserves that much and so do I. I love him and while it isn’t easy.” He admitted. “It’s what we got.” And as long as Aki kept smiling Shinjiro would put up with anything. He would push his body as far as it could go and then for another thousand miles.


End file.
